Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout8.1 Museum Assessment Program OF Dif4 pi si 19 —fie 82 AGENDA STATEMENT ` HERITAGE AND CULTURAL ARTS COMMISSION MEETING DATE: December 14, 2006 SUBJECT: Museum Assessment Program(MAP) Prepared by John Hartnett, Heritage & Cultural Arts Supervisor ATTACHMENTS: 1) Institutional Assessment Report 2) Scheduled Activities-FY 2006/07 t. RECOMMENDATION: Receive report and provide input to Staff FINANCIAL STATEMENT: None DESCRIPTION: One of the 2005-2006 Goals & Objectives adopted by the City Council was to "Investigate the possibility of obtaining accreditation for the Heritage Center through the American Association of Museums (MAP)". BACKGROUND: The Institute for.Museum and Library Services defines the MAP process as follows: "The Museum Assessment Program (MAP) is a confidential, consultative process, designed to help museums understand how they compare to standards and best practices in the field. MAP helps museums understand how other institutions deal with similar challenges. MAP provides suggestions for improvement and is designed for museums, historic houses, botanic gardens .and arboretums, zoos, nature centers and art galleries. There are three stages to each of the four two-year long assessments: Self-Study, Peer Review and Implementation." The Dublin Heritage Center underwent a Self-Study and Peer'Review process in 2005-2006 and has received the final Institutional Assessment Report (Attachment 1). The Institutional Assessment is the first phase of the four MAP processes and is designed to review a museum's entire operation, including; mission and planning, governance, administration, finance, collections stewardship, interpretation and presentation, marketing, public relations, membership and community support. Activities in the Institutional Assessment.focus on Mission, composition and skills of the board of trustees, financial analysis, accessibility, customer service, and the museum's place in its competitive environment. The next three phases of the MAP process include a Public Dimension Assessment (PDA), Collections Management Assessment(CMAP), and Governance Assessment(GMAP). The IMAP assessment, written by Surveyor, James DeMersman, Executive Director of the Hayward Area Historical Society, gave the Heritage Center a favorable report. There were four major areas with identified-objectives in the report which, given a renewed,.focus, could improve the overall operations of COPIES TO: DHPA ITEM NO: 8.1 G:\HERITAGE COMMISSION\AGENDA STMTS\2006\12-6 MAP report(2).doc the Heritage Center. Some of the objectives outlined in the MAP Report have already been addressed or are in the process of being accomplished by Staff and are identified in parenthesis. The four categories and objectives include: 1. Governance • The recommendation includes continued work on visioning and planning for the Heritage Center for both the short term and long term. Additionally, the assessment suggested strengthening the role of the Heritage Center in all of the Dublin Historical Preservation Association's (DHPA) accomplishments for the community. Some identified objectives that might address the governance issue include: • Revise the Heritage Center's Mission Statement to more clearly define priorities. • Encourage DHPA to also revise their Mission Statement to more closely align with the relationship of the two parties. • Collaborate with DHPA on visioning for the future, keeping in mind that DHPA plays a role in the Community beyond the Heritage Center. • Continue to utilize DHPA as a resource to improve programs for the Heritage Center by obtaining grants and donations because of DHPA's non-profit status. • Develop a Strategic Plan to identify long term goals for the Heritage Center. • Continue with the next three phases of the Museum Assessment Program. • Consider becoming members of other historical organizations such as California Association of Museums (CAM), Western Museums Association(WMA), and others. 2. Staffing The recommendation is to increase staffing of the Heritage Center to one full time position in the short term. In the long term, it is recommended that an education staff person be added as programs, tours, and other activities increase. Some identified objectives that might address staffing issues include: • Increase modest budget levels to assist with the administration of expanded levels of programming. • Utilize DHPA as a resource for volunteers to serve as docents and/or outside lecturers. • Expand the diversification of revenue streams to protect against fluctuations in future funding. • Expand promotion of use of St. Raymond's Church for private events and activities to create additional revenue opportunities. • Enhance job descriptions and training for part time staff to more fully use their talents as docents, educators and liaisons for the Heritage Center ands its diverse programs (In Progress). 3. Collections The recommendation is to increase collections by utilizing existing facilities as storage areas, such as the barn behind the Heritage Center. Some identified objectives that might address the collections issue include: • Use DHPA as a resource to identify community members to expand on collections inventory. • Continue to use the Past Perfect software to document collections activities. • Pursue grant funding through the National Endowment for the Humanities to expand on collections inventory and documentation. 2 of 4 • Utilize volunteers as interns to assist with database documentation of current and future collections. • Continue to use Eagle Scouts for projects that can expand storage for collections such as renovation of the barn (In Progress). 4. Marketing/Public Relations The recommendation is to increase visibility for the Heritage Center and its programs by using a variety of marketing techniques. Some identified objectives that might address the marketing issue include: • Develop strategies to increase word of mouth advertising for the Heritage Center programs. • Create informational brochures about the Heritage Center Museum, DHPA Membership, Tri- Valley History Council, regional museum programs, and others to increase awareness of resources available to the public (In Progress). • Encourage DHPA to sponsor events such as mixers or luncheons on behalf of.the Heritage Center to increase awareness. • Use current programs as a vehicle to create awareness of other heritage programs and activities. • Encourage community members to "tell their stories" as a way to engage other Dublin residents in the importance of local heritage and community diversity. • Use college interns to develop and implement marketing strategies that can also be used as evaluation tools. • Develop marketing vehicles to promote school tours. • Expand programs to include activities such as cemetery tours, walking tours, lectures, etc. to promote the City's heritage. • Use all existing vehicles to promote the Heritage Center programs, such as the City's web site, marquee, local publications,press releases, senior newsletter, etc. (In Progress). • Use the Take 5 for Arts organization to spread the word on arts and heritage, by using vehicles such as the Regional Brochure to promote local activities. • Collaborate with Arcadia Books to publish the history of Dublin, utilizing volunteers to assist with the project (In Progress). • Consider hosting a Dublin Chamber of Commerce Mixer to promote the Heritage Center. In addition to the general categories described above, some specific tasks that the MAP Surveyor felt might improve the quality of the Heritage Center and related programs have been identified as follows: • Create'a"History Walk" with interpretive signage and install heritage focused public art as part of the future planning for the expansion of the Historic Park Master Plan. • Install way-finding"directional signs"throughout the community to lead people to the site. • Consider moving other historical buildings to the Heritage Center location. • Open the Heritage Center during all public events at the site, such as during the Winter Concerts,, Bluegrass Festival, and others (Completed). • Encourage DHPA to target Private Developers for corporate donations as a way to demonstrate community involvement. L • Consider creating a small "Gift Shop" in the back room of the museum with promotional items (In Progress). • Consider charging a nominal fee for school and group tours or identify a sponsor to underwrite this cost(Completed). • Consider holding an annual Gala Event to acknowledge donors and as a fundraising opportunity. 3 of 4 • Consider creating a Newsletter which promotes the Heritage Center and DHPA activities. • Engage teens through the Youth Advisory Committee and teen programming to create an awareness of heritage programs available to them (In Progress). • Attempt to collaborate with the local newspaper to publish an ongoing history column to promote the Heritage Center and other local museums. • Develop an ongoing maintenance schedule to address the upkeep of Heritage Center facilities. Finally, Staff has included a list of activities planned for FY 2006-07 (Attachment 2). RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the Heritage and Cultural Arts Commission receive the report and provide input to Staff. 4 of 4 American Association of Museums Museum Assessment Program Institutional Assessment o MUSel/ • Jim DeMersman Hayward Area Historical Society February, 2006 ATTACHMENT 1 With the proximity to the Dublin Heritage Center in Dublin(I live 15 minutes away), it allowed us to develop a series of visits to Dublin. The first visit I met with Director Elizabeth Isles and John Hartnett, Heritage and Cultural Arts Supervisor for the City of Dublin to discuss the.overall process of the MAP and to set the plan, answer their questions, etc. The second meeting was a half day session with Elizabeth to visit the site, look at the buildings in the complex and have further discussions about some of the important issues from her perspective. I returned for an entire day workshop with members of the Dublin Historic Preservation Association(DHPA),the non-profit support arm of the Heritage Center and the Heritage and Cultural Arts Commission(HCAC), the City Council appointed body responsible for the operation of heritage and cultural sites in the City of Dublin. Director Isles was also present for the entire day. This workshop centered on a discussion of the major issues that had been identified in the self study by the organization. Each of these groups had input into this document. They had done an excellent job of getting to the meat of the issues and asking the questions that they had about how to improve the organization. This format really gave us the time that we needed to focus on those things that were important to the organization; Where I was able to do a lot of listening and then offering some advice and recommendations about the way, the organization(s) could move forward. I thought it was a terrific opportunity for open, honest and frank discussion about the strengths and weaknesses of the Dublin Heritage Center. Those issues that were tantamount to the organization, as identified in their self study were: governance, including clarifying roles, strategic planning and mission, increasing & • sustaining public participation, use of technology, and staff levels Again, we applaud the Museum Assessment Program staff for allowing us to develop this type of MAP, which is a little bit out of the ordinary framework. The relationship that has been established between this surveyor and the organization will be one that will continue well beyond the completion of this report. Because of our proximity,we will be able to maintain a closer relationship than under normal MAP circumstances where we can continue the discussion and exchange of ideas. This is much more helpful for both parties and strengthens the goals of the MAP program. 2 • l Brief Institutional History: The mission of the Dublin Heritage Center Museum to collect,preserve and interpret the material culture of Dublin to provide an historical and cultural focal point that will enrich the community. DHPA acquired the property and the buildings from CalTrans in 1976,DHPA operated the site with all volunteers until the burden of the associated costs became a drain on the resources of the organization. In October of 1993, the City of Dublin established the Dublin Heritage Center. The DHPA transferred the title of the cemetery which included the Murray Schoolhouse. The Amador-Livermore Historical Society gave the City title to the St. Raymond's Church. The original Murray School House,built in 1856,houses the permanent collection of artifacts from of everyday life of Dublin's early settlers dating from the early 1800s to the present. Throughout the year,the Schoolhouse Gallery features changing exhibitions that reflect a broad scope of topics organized by the staff or on loan from other institutions. It is normally open Wednesday, Thursday,Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 P.M. -4:00 P.M. Old St. Raymond's Church was built in 1859 and dedicated in 1860. It is the oldest extant Catholic Church in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The church is available for use and lends itself well to intimate weddings,baptisms,memorials and recitals. The Dublin-Pioneer Cemetery was formally established as a cemetery with the burial of Tom Donlon in'1859. Tom Donlon, a Dublin pioneer, fell to his death while helping construct Old St. Raymond's Church. A walk along the path in the shade of giant oak and walnut trees takes one back in history where many of Dublin's founders are buried. One can obtain an easy history lesson by reading the inscriptions on old tombstones and spending a few moments gleaning the facts from the family history signs. The City of Dublin has recently approved policies and procedures that will establish a foundation for developing exhibits and addressing issues that are common to all museums. It has • established formal statements regarding purpose, ownership, collecting goals, and offers standard procedures for handling all of these issues. Adoption of these policies and procedures authorized staff to collect and manage the artifacts on display at the Dublin Heritage Center. The Center's collections include photographs, documents, letters,books, yearbooks, advertising materials from local businesses, clothing and textiles, furniture, and a wide variety of 3 smaller 3-dimensional objects and memorabilia. The Center relies on individuals and businesses to enhance our collections by entrusting us with their treasured items. As a museum, the Heritage, Center can properly store artifacts so that they are preserved for future generations to learn from, and make items available to a larger audience through exhibits and research. Executive Summary The mission of the Dublin Heritage Center Museum to collect,preserve and interpret the material culture of Dublin to'provide an historical and cultural,focal point that will enrich the community. After my visits to the museum, I believe that they are working hard to carry out this particular mission within the context of limited resources. They are doing an amazing job! With a little work in the areas of marketing and public relations, collections storage and increasing staffing levels, the Dublin Heritage Center can continue to move forward in a positive direction. There were four main areas that we spent a good part of the day addressing based on the organization's self assessment and areas of need. Governance: The current structure is fine and very much in line with other public-private partnerships. DHPA recognized its limitations almost 20 years ago and transferred title of the property and then the collection to the City of Dublin for the Heritage Center. The City has in good faith provided resources to help preserve the structures and make.the museum work as a vital part of the community. My chief recommendation in this area is to continue to work together on visioning and planning both in the short term and in the longer term, including the ! role of the Heritage Center in all that DHPA does for the community. DHPA seems to be willing to provide funding for the Center and those things that fall outside of the City budget. This is a tremendous gift to the City of Dublin and goes a long way in making a viable organization that has a longterm future. Staff: There needs to be an increase in staffing for the Heritage Center in order for it to reach a greater potential. Elizabeth needs to be made full-time. I would suspect that, if she is like most other museum people in the country, she is already working more than her 30 hours a week. I also believer that there should be an Education staff person added to the staff to handle the influx of school children and other potential group tours that should occur once the new exhibit is 4 opened.This needs to be addressed by the City of Dublin. DHPA should not be responsible for funding staff positions and the associated benefits. The weekend person needs to be more connected to organization so that there is a positive front end experience for visitors. This person could also handle more rental business of the church,which could offset the cost of this additional person's extra responsibilities. Collections Storage:There needs to be some work to convert one of the barns in the rear of school house into a storage facility. The Heritage Center is in the enviable and wonderful position to be able to do it now and be proactive in creating an appropriate space before it is overwhelmed with collections items. Marketing and PR: Next to staffing,this is the greatest need for the Heritage Center. You need to be able to get the word out in a variety of different ways. There are many fantastic possibilities that are available to the Heritage Center,the City and the DHPA depending on how the staffing issue is resolved. It will also be dependant on where the priorities end up after there is some'additional planning and visioning for the Center's future. Mission & Vision This museum assessment is the start of a process to look at the organization and its vision for the long term.Up until now,there has not been a great deal of time spent on organizational and strategic planning in the past few years,which is quite typical for a small museum. There are so many other day to day operational issues that need to be addressed that the long range planning is often the furthest thing from most people's minds. I commend the City and the DHPA for taking the time to commit to this process at this time. The Heritage Center, with the introduction of the new exhibit in the schoolhouse with its newly renovated bell tower and its first professional museum director, is on the edge of a new era. There exist mission statements for both parts the organizations that are pretty standard in their language. Both of them clearly state in broad terms what each part of the organization does. The City statement could be made a bit more concise and get more to the meat of what is important about what they do as the Heritage Center. The DHPA statement is concise but it does 5 not mention the Heritage Center by name. We all know now that it is one of the things that DHPA does but we need to make sure that future generations understand that intent. It might be a good exercise to sit down together and take a look at the statements and see if there was a way to craft a statement that could work for both groups. There is a tremendous sense of cooperation between the two parts of the organization at this time,which should make for more open lines of communication and the ability to rethink how the groups work together. Even though Dublin is a growing community,the movers and the shakers seem to be a pretty small group of people who have many contacts amongst themselves and with other community groups. • I would also recommend that the groups plan some quality time to sit down and talk about vision for the Heritage Center. The new plans for a Heritage Park are moving forward and it represents an opportunity to play a major role in the development of that property. There has already been a great deal of involvement in the process so and I would expect that level of involvement to continue. This is a prime opportunity for some very interesting heritage projects. Here are a few that come to mind for me: Has there been any thought about a History Walk with interpretive signs throughout the new park? What forms of public art and sculpture will be a part of the new park and is there a way to make some of those heritage-focused?Are there ways that could be used to include the changing demographics of community to make sure they realize that the heritage of the community includes them? Are there ways that way finding(directional) signs could be done so that it moves visitors to the park to the Heritage Center? Is this park space a place where other important historic buildings could be moved if they are threatened with demolition in the future?It could provide a way for the Heritage Center to move more in the direction of History San Jose. I would encourage DHPA and HCAC to continue the discussion to make sure that some of these issues and others that they feel are important to make this a great community heritage park get addressed in the new site. I love the thought that there are eyes on the original store building on the corner when it becomes available. This does show that there is some real thinking ahead going on here. With the addition of the park space and that building there is a real opportunity to create a place of community focus on the heritage of the Dublin community. I would be happy to come back and facilitate a discussion/visioning session if there is an interest in doing this kind of thinking and planning. 6 • I would encourage the organization to continue to engage with AAM and IMLS on the rest of the MAP programs. They are an excellent way to get a sense of where you are at this moment,where you need to be and some suggestions on how to get there. The ultimate goal would be to do a strategic plan to identify long term goals and objectives. The plan must be more than just a list of things that are needed to be accomplished. It needs to contain a timeline of when these things are to be accomplished and by whom. There needs to be a sense of accountability to ensure that the plan does not sit on a shelf somewhere. The other key to successful strategic planning is making sure that you are realistic about what can be accomplished in a given time with the given resources. While the brainstorming part of planning is an integral and important part of the process, it is also important to remember that we are an organization of human beings with infinite time and energy. We cannot do it all immediately, which is why we plan. As a part of the planning process, it may well serve the organizations to spend some time working on the model of the organizational life cycle that we talked about, not just from the view of the overall organization,but also in looking at its various programs and events. We had a good discussion about the accreditation process. While I believe that you should certainly strive in every possible way to work towards accreditation standards in everything that you do, I do not think the time is appropriate for that emphasis right now. There is much work yet to be done in areas that the accreditation committee will look closely when they get to their vision. I will make sure that Elizabeth gets a copy of the accreditation standards to share with you, so that you can see what the expectations are in meeting standard museum operating practices. Governance The governance model for the Heritage Center is pretty much your standard municipal system. The City Council has appointed an arts and cultural commission that has amongst its duties the oversight of the Heritage Center. The City employs the Director and pays her salary and benefits as well as a modest budget for some operational expenses. There is also a non- profit organization,DHPA, which provides support for the Heritage Center amongst the other things that it does. We spent considerable time talking about the appropriateness of this structure, what was working and what was not working as well as it could be. As mentioned before I 7 believe that the communication level between the City and DHPA is much better than it has been in the past. I would encourage the continuation of this conversation to ensure the success of the Heritage Center as a key element of the.City's historic past. DHPA has an important role to fulfill for the Heritage Center. Its role is central and critical to the overall success of the Center. Since the Center is a city owned property, it is harder for it to secure additional outside funding,particularly for those who use donations as a tax deduction. DHPA is a non profit educational organization where those donations are tax deductible. In addition,many agencies, corporations and foundations have policies about giving to municipal agencies. DHPA plays a critical role in giving the Director an avenue to use for applying for foundation grants, corporate donations and significant donations from the general public. DHPA has in the past and will continue in the future to provide funds for the purchase of artifacts, and funds for conservation of objects at the Heritage Center. They have provided funding for the resource room at the Heritage Center, for the educational curriculum and the video orientation. In addition, they are willing to expend funds to cover memberships in professional organizations and professional staff development opportunities for the staff. I would highly recommend that the organization belong at least to the California Association of Museums (CAM), Western Museums Association (WMA), American Association of Museums (AAM) and American Association for State and Local History(AASLH). The newsletters, e-newsletters, workshop opportunities and annual meetings of all of these organizations are important networks to make sure that the organization and staff stay on top of new developments in the field. Workshops and annual meetings are also opportunities for Board level participation in training, so that members become more familiar with the issues surrounding the operation of local history museums and sites. DHPA has another important role in its advocacy for the organization at the Council level. They are the voice of the community. While there are many close connections to Council at this time, those may not always be in place. It is important to lay the groundwork now that it should be a part of the "corporate"psyche. DHPA plays a role in the community beyond the Heritage Center. They have a web site that could be more of a tool to promote its work, including that of the Heritage Center. They serve as the fiscal agent for the Camp Parks 8 Foundation where they helped to save the Commander's House for use as a museum. The long term scope of this project is still uncertain,but it seems reasonable that there will be some future participation. This is one of those things that DHPA need to think about when it is visioning its future. DHPA could also lead the effort to approach the City to make sure that when the General Plan is updated that there is an element on Historic Resources included. Again the City could be proactive in identifying and recognizing its heritage; instead of waiting until those resources are completely gone like so many other bay area cities. DHPA is (and could be more of) a source of volunteers for the organization and help the staff provide training sessions for them. This could even be specialized training that would include outside lecturers and presenters to help put the interpretation in a larger perspective while giving the volunteers some expanded knowledge base about area history. This could be like a perk of volunteer service and provide a corps of highly trained and educated docents. Increased numbers of volunteers could provide the manpower to increase the hours that the museum is open to the public. This was one of the issues that was raised during the workshop that there was a perception that it was not open as often as it should be. This might also be a reason to open the Heritage Center on the night of public events in the church building. There is a built in audience of people who once they experience the new exhibit could spread the word. Word of mouth advertising is the best and cheapest form of public relations. DHPA gives an important service in providing refreshments for the concert series. This is one part of the program that could be expanded a little, so that the audience that attends gets an advertisement about the Heritage Center, the DHPA and the benefits of membership. It's another opportunity to get the word out. It could include membership information, Tri-Valley History Council brochures, and Heritage Center materials on the refreshment table as a low key approach. There could be an announcement before the concert begins that the City and DHPA are co-sponsors of the event. You could also announce that the Heritage Center would be open at intermission for those who would like to visit. It's a short walk and I bet that there would be some takers. Again, make sure that promotional materials are at the Heritage Center and that there is someone there who is excited about the new exhibit to share their enthusiasm. Through its membership in the Tri Valley History Council,the DHPA provides a vehicle for cooperation with other area historic sites and museums, including a fantastic joint marketing brochure that raises awareness of all of the heritage sites. DHPA could also be the catalyst for 9 • teacher trainings and orientations by sponsoring events that Elizabeth does not have in her city budget. Likewise they could sponsor events to woo corporate sponsors through mixers, luncheons, dinners, etc. As to the participation of the City Dublin, I am impressed by the level of funding that they have been able to provide for the Heritage Center in the past. The commitment to making sure that the Center has professional staff and that they are paid an appropriate salary with benefits is commendable. I hope that this level of commitment continues beyond the current administration. We all know that priorities in government agencies changes over time,but it appears as if there is a long standing commitment to the Heritage Center. Modest budget increases to assist with the expanded levels of programming at the"new"Heritage Center would be something that I hope the Commission and the Council would look at,particularly in the area of additional staff. Financial Stability Organizational finances are relatively stable. The City is in the unusual and enviable position of being in good financial shape, which runs counter to most other California cities. My one word of caution here is that while there is a Council that is currently friendly to the Heritage Center and DHPA, it may not always be the case. We all know of situations where the political landscape can change with just one election. It is incumbent on the DHPA to stay on its toes and to watch elections closely. The organization must do this carefully since as a non-profit you are not allowed to endorse one candidate over another. This does not mean, however, that you cannot invite all candidates to the Center to make a presentation about your past,present and future plans. The Commission can also be important in keeping the funding and other issues before the Council. If by some odd chance the Council changes its funding priorities and does not include the Center at current or increased levels, DHPA needs to be ready to step to the plate financially even more than their generous participation so far. There is really not much that can be done to foresee this into the future. The Heritage Center needs to have as much of a diversification of its revenue streams as it can to help prevent serious cutbacks or setbacks with fluctuations in funding. DHPA is also in a good financial place. There are funds in place that will allow them to give generously well into the future. In addition, I would use the Gala opening as an opportunity 10 • to raise awareness and some dollars. The concert series is another avenue to raise awareness and memberships. If there is not a Finance Committee of the DHPA in place, it would be a great addition to your Board structure to make sure those dollars are invested for the maximum return. The Committee could contain members who are not on the board,but are in the community and who may have a level of expertise on investments that might not be on the board currently. You want to maximize that investment over the long term. There are also many opportunities for creating additional revenue streams in the area of grants from foundations and corporations. With the large amounts of housing that are being built in the Dublin area, those developers make prime targets for gifts to the organization as a way to demonstrate their community involvement. A membership campaign might be another avenue that I would pursue. In working with the City, and/or the developers, there should be a way to get membership materials into the hands of all households in the community to raise the awareness of the Heritage Center and the DHPA and invite people to join in the preservation of their community heritage. I would investigate a small museum shop/counter in the back room of the schoolhouse. Keep things simple and all related to the mission of the organization. That could include things like books, trinkets with the logo of the museum, city logo items, an afghan that has historic buildings on it, old fashioned games, things related to the cemetery, historic photos from the collection provided you have copyright to them, etc. Pay particular attention to finding lower cost items that sell for a couple of dollars or less since you will be having large numbers of school tours. You would be amazed at the income that can be made from a school tour. When you have school tours on site, it would be really helpful to have a volunteer available to manage that.operation while tours are going on. One person is not going to be able to handle it all together. We had a good discussion about admission fees. There is a trend in the field particularly in the Bay Area to move away from admission fees. Organizations like History San Jose, the.San Jose Museum of Art and the Hayward Area Historical Society&Museums have done away with admission fees to their museum facilities. Several have successfully approached corporate sponsors to underwrite that cost with a gift. I would strongly suggest some further discussion about an admission fee to the new space. Demographically Dublin may be in a different camp than some others in the Bay Area economic situation,but what a great community service to be 11 • able to open your doors to the public for.free. As was suggested during the recent keynote address at the California Association•of Museums meeting-Why are we charging people to see THEIR history? Now,that is not to say that I would\not charge for school group tours, adult group tours, and the educational kits that go to the schools. At HAHS,we do charge, even if it is a nominal fee, mostly because of the amount of staff time that goes into managing these programs. Again you might be able to find a corporate sponsor even to underwrite these fees and so much the better. We have not had that kind of luck yet. Another revenue generating idea that has worked successfully in other places is by having an annual gala to honor old(or heritage, if you will)businesses in a more formal atmosphere. It gives the organization a chance to honor long time contributions to the community, create or strengthen a relationship with a local business or individual,provides a social and high profile event for the organization and raises some dollars. There are several ways to raise the dollars here from corporate tables, inviting past award winners to sponsor tables, silent auctions,business underwriting and advertisements in the evening program. Interpretation & Education The organization has done a fantastic job at planning for the new exhibit in the schoolhouse space. Given that it is the only space at present to produce an exhibit about community history,the museum decided to revamp the old,tired exhibits that were so typical of a small town historical society where the items were all exhibited but where there was nothing even resembling a comprehensive look at the history of the community. A great deal of time; effort and resources have been spent in the redesign of this area to create a wonderful exhibit that tells the history of Dublin within the context"The Journey." The story details how the first immigrants journeyed to the area;how the community developed over the years and continues to show that modern immigrants still arriving today also are changing the face of the community. The components of the exhibit make a great deal of sense. They are bright and colorful. There are many hands on things for children,but adults will also gain much from the experience. The museum has used,a professional exhibit designer who has been especially creative in using the small space that was available to make a superb exhibit that will draw attention from a wide 12 • audience,particularly school children. The interpretive method will be mostly through labels, but focused tours will be used with the school groups. There will be a section of the exhibit that will allow people to put down their own stories. This is an incredible opportunity for the museum to gather those stories for its collections. Sharing those stories in a variety of methods (publications, newsletters, web site,etc.)would be a great way of reaching out to new segments in the community and getting them involved. The museum also has a set of educational kits that are available to the schools. These are wisely based on the state curriculum standards so that they will actually be used in the classrooms. One suggestion I would have in this area would be to reexamine those kits now in light of the new exhibit to make sure that they are compatible and complimentary. This would be the perfect opportunity to use them as pre or post museum visit kits. This work could be accomplished as an internship project with student intern either in a museum studies program at John.F Kennedy University in Berkeley, San Francisco State University, and San Jose State University or from any education department at a local college or university like Cal State East Bay in Hayward. This could be a great student teaching project as well. Getting the word out to the schools is another avenue that will help to increase the visibility in the community. Word of mouth is the best advertising that you can have. I have found most often in smaller communities like this that the way to the parents, grandparents and other adults is through the children. If kids have a great museum experience, they go home with an enthusiastic report of their day and a desire to go back. More than likely Mom will be interested enough to at least check it out. A take home souvenir with the museum's hours and upcoming special events would be a great way to give Mom some incentive to come back. A special brochure just for educational offerings for classroom teachers, particularly in the 3rd, 4th and 5th grades,would be another great addition to the materials that already exist. For a smaller institution with such a limited staff, the Heritage Center does have quite a few public programs that it offers including a concert series, several workshops each year, changing exhibits and music jams. There may be other things that could be offered like cemetery tours,walking tours, lectures, etc. The limiting factor is the limited staff that is already stretched almost beyond capacity at their present number of hours. Without the volunteers who help to run these programs, it would be impossible to continue to do the existing programs. As a part of the strategic planning/visioning session, it might be a great idea to do some more 13 • brainstorming about other opportunities for public programs to increase the visibility of the Heritage Center in the community. Collections Stewardship The Heritage Center is fortunate in that is has a very small collection. This collection was at one time in the possession of the DHPA but was given to the City to manage because of the lack of resources and the thought that the City could do a better job at taking care of it. This- was a generous offer and a wise decision on the part of DHPA. It helps to alleviate some of the issues that other similar public/private institutions have in caring for collections where one party owns the collection, yet the other is responsible for its exhibition and care. This does not mean that DHPA should not continue to assist the Heritage Center in providing additional funds for the collections care. There is only a limited budget within the city budget with which to do this important and essential function. Collections care'is one of those areas that set museums apart from other non-profit organizations. There is a fiduciary responsibility to care for the objects in its possession in perpetuity. Over time the collection will more than likely increase in its numbers and scope. Members of DHPA have many community connections that can assist the staff in adding to the collection as the need arises. The Collections Policy is an important document as it can guide those future acquisitions to make sure that the Heritage Center does end up collecting a myriad of objects that it does not need,nor that it can store and care for iri the appropriate manner. The Collections Policy is also important because it lays out the policies and procedures for the management of all of the various aspects of the collection function of the organization. Presently the staff is doing a great job on the care of the collection. Materials are being accessioned and cataloged as per standard museum procedures using the Past Perfect software, which is one of the best and easiest to use software packages for small and medium museums. All of the appropriate information has been added into the system as time has allowed. Most of r the artifacts are in the database,but archival materials and photographs are still being done as there is not enough time to do this as well as other necessary functions. With only one.3/4 staff person, it is hard to get this accomplished. Once the archival material and photographs is in the data base the use of material will be a great deal easier for staff, volunteers and outside researchers. • 14 • One area that needs some attention is collections storage. Since the collection is not very large at this time and most of the collection will be on exhibit, this is not a dire emergency. The Carriage House behind the schoolhouse would make a suitable storage space. With some metal shelving, ethafoam,proper acid free boxes and acid free tissue the objects collections could be stored in an organized and safe fashion. A dehumidifier and some electrical heat registers would also be useful in the control of the temperature and humidity levels in that space. Because of the nature of the space,this would not be a location for the storage of archrival and photograph collections. Those collections should still be maintained and stored in the schoolhouse building at this time where the conditions are more stable and there is a higher level of security. As the collection grows over time the collection the ability to be able to plan this space now before there are too many objects would put the museum in a position of strength. There are several grant programs available through the National Endowment for the Humanities that would assist with this type of collections management project. Since paid staff time is limited, the use of volunteers and interns could be one way of getting more of the collection into the database. Those interns could again range from junior high, high school, community college or university programs. Once they have proper training and supervision, it could be a huge asset in the collections management area. Since younger folks have grown up using Technology they are much easier to train and to adapt to systems. Past Perfect is an easy system to use and to train people on. I have found that it is even easy to • train some of our more mature volunteers on how to use the program. Marketing & Public Relations Of all the areas that we talked about and discussed, this is one area where there could be some improvement. That is not to say that there are major problems in this area, it is simply a matter of priorities and time of one staff person. There are several areas that I have some recommendations for the Heritage Center. General Information Brochure: There needs to be a museum brochure developed that highlights the new exhibit and the story that it tells. This would be something that could be distributed to area hotels, chambers of commerce, information stations, etc. It is important to get the site on 15 everyone's radar screen. Let people see the work that you are doing! You are doing great and amazing things. Newsletter: DHPA and the Heritage Center need to resurrect the newsletter. It is a tangible benefit of membership (so hence an incentive to join),but more importantly it is a communication tool. There needs to be a multitude of ways to spread the word about events, exhibits and functions at the Center and with other DHPA projects. City Communication Vehicles: Make sure that you are using all of the City of Dublin communication avenues to spread the word. This would include the City's web site and then any other mailings,newsletters, etc. that the City uses to communicate with the citizens of the community. Tri Valley Coalition: This is an important organization to maintain ties with and to assist in their efforts to promote all of the museums within the Tri Valley area. The joint brochure that was developed is a fantastic tool. It needs to have a wider distribution, including over the hill into the East Bay. This might be a way to create a passbook for other museums or cultural attractions in the area with this group. This could work even with sites that do have free admission. They could offer something else as an incentive to visit(i.e. like a discount in the shop, a discount on a concert ticket, etc.) Publications: I would strongly encourage the work on other publications to help promote the history of the Dublin area. The one book that has been published was fantastic. Arcadia Books does a fantastic job in putting together local history books in a better standard format that has been tried and tested with many communities nationwide. Most of the area communities have done books with Arcadia. It is a win-win situation. The caveat here is that you need to have a person to.spearhead the project,write the chapters and captions, choose the photographs and make sure that it is the Arcadia format. It takes a little work,but the rewards are great. As you get to know your photographic and archival collections better, other thoughts about additional publications will come to the top. 16 • New exhibit: With the opening of the new exhibit there is an opportunity to blitz media with all of the associated hoopla that goes along with this new phase in the history of the Heritage Center. With DHPA doing the opening events (which is fantastic), there is a way to call•attention to the cooperative spirit between the two organizations. The Heritage Center and DHPA should use this time to your full advantage in spreading the word. Concert series: This is a great opportunity to be marketed more to the community and beyond. In order to take advantage of the captive audience, Open the new museum before concerts and during the intermissions so that the audience there gets a chance to experience the museum and what they are, in effect, sponsoring through their admission fees. Chamber mixer: Host the chamber mixer at the museum although it may need to be in a time of year where you can do at least the food/drink part outside. The chamber mixer that we do at HAHS has become the best attended mixer of the year for the Hayward Chamber because we provide great food and drink, in addition to the atmosphere for meeting other business people. Bluegrass jams: Another opportunity for more publicity to promote these informal jams. They appear to happen on a regular basis, so that it is predictable enough to publicize them. There are other bluegrass groupies out there that might love the chance to hang out with this group. I did have concerns about the group performing in the museum space,but now with the new exhibit, they would need to be moved into the church space. The church: What a great site to have as a part of the Heritage Center. I think that building and its available use for rentals, including weddings needs to be marketed more. This could produce another significant stream of income that could off set the additional staff person or a real part— time person to help manage the rental program and weekend museum duties. There needs to be some discussions with the City Fire Department about expanding the capacity in that building or getting a variance, so that it could hold more than what they are allowing at the moment—at least 100 people would greatly assist in its marketability. 17 Teens: A great way to increase public participation is to focus on getting different audiences involved. One of the age groups that is often overlooked by historical organizations are teenagers. A way to get things started with this group use city teen advisory committee. They could be a great focus group for what they would be looking for from the Heritage Center. We have been recently successful in this area of teen involvement. Using some teens that had done some volunteer work for us, we created a focus group. The outcome from this group was creating a group called"Persistence of Vision."They have focused their teen events around current exhibits through the genre of film. With teens word of mouth seems to work well. The first event drew 20 teens, the second one jumped to 61 attendees. We expect that attendance will . be steadily around these numbers based on a similar group that participates at a local art gallery. Column in local paper: A great way for more community visibility would be a local history column in the local paper, something similar to the History Challenge in the old newsletter but on a larger scale. It would be a great way to use items from the collection, three-dimensional ones,photographs or archival material to illustrate in an entertaining manner the changes that have taken place in Dublin over the years. This could also serve as a vehicle to introduce those newer folks in the community to the history,but also to the stories of previous immigrants creating an important connection. Other special events: Being able to offer other special events and programs will also help with creating new marketing efforts. Things like walking tours, cemetery tours,participating in parades and festivals are vital to being seen as a team player in the community. But it takes personnel to do that—if you expect Elizabeth to do it all you will wear her out. • Human Resources My largest area of concern in doing this MAP is the need for more staff in order for the Heritage Center to fully realize the potential of the site. If the historic park becomes a reality and grows even more staff will be needed in order to make this a successful venture that is a true community resource instead of just a passive park. The City of Dublin, the Heritage Center, and DHPA has a gem in Elizabeth Isles, the Director. She is a consummate museum professional, who is very capable of performing all of 18 her job responsibilities. She indeed knows the museum business and has brought the museum standards level at the Heritage Center to new heights. But she is only a 3/4 time employee. While initially that was an agreement with the City, there is now an opportunity to make her a full-time employee. This would be a step in the right direction. With the new exhibit, the ensuing excitement, increased visitation, and a major influx of schools, one part-time staff and a couple of volunteers cannot do it all. I even have my reservations that in adding another 10 hours to Elizabeth's schedule will make a significant difference in doing many of the things that we discussed during our visit and those things that are recommended in this report. It would be ideal, at least for a start, that not only would Elizabeth be moved into a full time position, with the entitled benefits for that position within the city structure,but that the city consider adding an additional staff person to assist with the educational program function of the Heritage Center. This is the one key element of the Center that needs the greatest attention and has the greatest potential for putting the museum on the • map. There is currently also a weekend staff person who from what I can gather is a local student or recreation employee who gets assigned to be at the Center on the weekend to open the museum and to serve as on-site security. From all reports, it seems as if this has been a rather unsuccessful approach to staff the Center on the weekend, which I would guess has been and will continue to be the most visited time for the general public. There seems to be a lack of engagement for this person with the visiting public. I really feel that you should have a clear job description for this position, making sure that it includes the expectation that this person is the front line of the museum to the public. They need to be friendly,welcoming, and knowledgeable about community history. They should not be sitting in the back room with their feet up on the desk. This could also be a way to get some of the photographic and archival material into the data base. This position could be more of just a building sitting position. No matter what, the position (and the person in the position)needs to be reviewed on a regular basis. Facilities & Risk Management The buildings at the Heritage Center are in good shape as is the cemetery. They appear to be well cared for and that problem issues are addressed to make sure the buildings maintain there historical character while meeting accessibility issues. I might work on a maintenance schedule 19 for historic buildings, i.e. painting, roof replacement,parking lot resurfacing, etc. so that you have a sense as to when those things need to occur on a regular basis so that budget planning can happen. Since it is a city facility the other risk management issues are well in hand, well thought out and well cared for just because of the city structure. Issues of insurance, security, fire protection, general liability are all handled through the City of Dublin, as they should be for a city-owned site. The proposed Eagle Scout project to convert one of the barns into an area for carriages and farm implements is a wonderful idea. Not only will it provide some needed display space for those larger items that will no longer work in the schoolhouse, it will be a great way to get some more needed coverage in the local press about the Heritage Center's growth and community involvement. Summary All in all, the Dublin Heritage Center is a fantastic organization that is doing all that it can to fulfill its mission given the resources that are currently available to them. With a little bit of more time spent on visioning and planning, I can only see greater things ahead for the museum, DHPA and the City of Dublin. This is a tremendous community resource that can do much to teach members of the community about its past, its present and its future. I commend the City of Dublin for making sure that the Heritage Center remains important in the life of the community. Where many other California communities have cut back on arts and culture as budgets have gotten tighter, Dublin has continued to fund the Center and other community arts programs,realizing that those things add great value to the livability of a community. DHPA is to be commended for realizing its limitations in the first place along with the desire to see the Heritage Center survive and thrive. They continue to offer additional resources, financial and otherwise, in order to ensure the success of the museum and its programs. I enjoyed my visit and the opportunity to get to spend time with a sister organization"over the hill." I look forward to a continuing dialogue with you. Please know that I am a phone call or email away and would be glad to work further with you on your journey. 20 Dublin Heritage Center Current Scheduled Activities Date Program Type Title/ Detail 1 Dec. 2, 2006 Workshop Holiday Family Workshop 2 Jan. 13, 2007 Concert Michael McNevin 3 Jan. 20, 2007 History Gathering of pioneer families to collect Related photos and stories for Arcadia Books on Dublin 4 Feb. 11, 2007 Concert Jessica Callahan 5 Feb., 24, 2007 Workshop Cowboy Workshop 6 . Feb. 28—Apr. 8, Exhibit Harness Racing by Currier & Ives 2007 7 July 5—Aug. 24, Exhibit Recovered Views: African American 2007 Portraits 1912-1925- NEH 8 Aug. 6-24, 2007 Camp Teen Apprentice Camp 9 Aug. 29-Sept. 30 Exhibit Curated by.Teens (Apprentice Camp 2007 Exhibit) ATTACHEMENT 2